Bitcoin full node and query server
May 12, 2025
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evoskuil02:55
I also think that we have made the difference here. Knots is not an answer, and everyone knows that. But we are coming, and they know that too. Core is no longer dismissing us, they are frantically attempting to figure out what to do about us. That's where the soul searching and renewed attempts at performance engineering are coming from, directly. Previously they would have laughed off the filter bois, but this time is different.
They have been sitting on their collective ass for a decade without even knowing it - despite being repeatedly told. Now they have had to face reality. Their performance blows, their code is a nightmarishly brittle and tangled mess, a major rearchitecture is required, and both organizationally and technically they have no ability to fix it. It's a monumental undertaking, I know. And it will be nearly impossible given their organization tensions.
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10 replies · cguida, evoskuil · last May 13, 2025
C
cguida00:12
Previously they applied filters to fight spam, it is only recently that they've seemingly stopped trying that method
evoskuil00:27
They have all come to the inevitable realization that it doesn't work. Maxwell even had to recently walk back his much earlier comments in support of it. I have said it from the beginning. zero-conf, op-data, etc... all policy will fail. Which is why I put zero effort into it. If it's not enforced, it will fail.
evoskuil00:28
You could make the same argument that not validating is good enough. It's not, if people don't validate the system will fail.
evoskuil02:03
Does one person validating disincentivize scamming other people who aren’t? Sure. Do you think that people not validating will get scammed constantly. Of course they will.
evoskuil02:06
This is why we don’t build systems that rely on zero conf. We explicitly want it to not be used. It’s the same reason we don’t rely on “discouragement” (though both were tried with policy).
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evoskuil02:12
Whatever space can be filled by consensus will be filled. The only question is how much will people have paid for it. No demand, free space.
evoskuil02:30
This is just how it works, and there is no way around it. Space is an inherent cost of the system, and fortunately that's a very, very small cost.